A diary of going uphill

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Tag: mountains

Dogs are descendants of wolves, and wolves are synonymous with snow. It’s hard to imagine canis lupus stalking prey without a backdrop of silent winter white. While some domestic dogs still share many traits with the mighty timberwolf, others are less equipped to handle the…

The allure of a 14er summit beckons to people from all walks of life. To some it’s simply a thing to do during summer break, to others it’s the realization of a lifelong dream. Colorado’s mountains are tools used to achieve personal fulfillment, escape the doldrums of urban life, seize the vitality waiting untapped in the alpine or feed a fragile ego. Whatever brings them to the base of the mountain, most 14er hikers fall into one — or a combination — of the following categories.

Like a first love, it opened a world of possibilities. I was 23 and a recent transplant to Boston when it found me on the glossy back page of an outdoor magazine. I was newly severed from the Rocky Mountains, for which I’d only just…

How you choose to fill your backpack on a given day is about as personal as picking your own bellybutton. Most people who have ever set foot in the backcountry know of The 10 Essentials. Even hikers who skimp are likely to take along…

I respect the right of everyone to spend a day in the mountains free from annoyance and fear, just like I enjoy the right to hike with my four-legged adventure buddy. So, how can the gun-toting dog hunters and Susie’s gaggle of mountaineer pugs coexist? Like most raging debates in the hiking community, it really doesn’t have to be that hard.

So many outside influences affect how we perceive ourselves. Our self-esteem is too often based on the opinions and actions of others. Climbing brings everything back to center. Mountains recalibrate the soul.